Combines both sequential illustrations and text to help students form a complete understanding of the story
Longer, stand-alone story that has not been previously published as a serialized comic
Can be soft or hard covered
Can be black and white or colored
Has one or more volumes
Production values are typically much higher than with pamphlet-style comics
Better known as "book-length comics"
Why use Graphic Novels in the classroom?
Educators and librarians have reported amazing success in inspiring children to read using comic literature. This literature format can be especially popular with struggling readers.
Most graphic novels contain rich, complex plot and narrative structure. They can be used to improve reading developing for ELL students.
The illustrations found in comic literature provide contextual clues on the meaning of the text. Providing young people with diverse reading materials, including graphic novels, can help them become lifelong readers.
Graphic novels have been associated with adult language, violence and sexual themes in the past. However, there is a growing body of graphic novels that are suitable for young children. Reputable reviews on graphic novels can help educators build a library of suitable comic literature.
Comic literature provides a unique experience for the readers and is widely popular with students. In one library (West Junior High School Library), circulation rose significantly when comic literature was introduced. Circulation of traditional literature rose 30% after the introduction of comic literature.
How to use Graphic Novels in the classroom?
Comic literature can be a catalyst to help students engage, out of their own self interests, in reading.
Comic Literature can be used to grab student's attention, to enhance a larger lesson or as a foundation for a lesson itself.
Graphic novels are versatile and thus can be used daily with a variety of subject areas. There are comics that are related to almost every subject taught in schools.
Comic literature is not a substitute for traditional literature, rather they should be seen as another tool to bring literacy into a diverse classroom.
Activity Examples
Graphic novels can be used to supplement many different subjects. One teacher used comic literature in conjunction with a lesson on erosion. He gave students a graphic novel called Hercules: The Twelve Labors (2007) by Paul Storrie.
In groups, students read the novel aloud and answered questions on a reading guide. The graphic novel presented a myth associated with the meeting of rivers.
Following the reading, students were taught about erosion and witnessed an experiment. Students were then asked to compare and contrast the myth and science that each explained the same event.
Kaitlin Farrell Citation: Nickel, S. (2006). The Boy Who Burped Too Much. Mankato, MN: Stone Arch
Books. Reading Level: 3-5 Suggested Literacy Strategy: Monitoring, Questioning, and Repredicting; This book is filled twists and turns so students would easily be able to apply these strategies in order to understand the story. Description: This is the story of Bobby Aaron, a boy who is normal in every way except one- he burps too much. Bobby enters a county spelling bee but is nervous that he will burp on stage. His friend Joseph tries many wacky ways to help Bobby get rid of his burps but none of them work. Bobby asks his grandfather for help and his grandfather gives him a lucky rubber frog. During the spelling bee, Bobby loses the frog and is thinking so hard about where it could have gone that he forgets to burp. Bobby beats his rival Courtney, wins the spelling bee, and is cured of his burping problem. Jeanna CaliaBook:Elf Quest: Fire and Flight by Wendy and Richard Pini Citation:Pini, W., & Pini, R. (1993). Elf Quest: Fire and Flight. Poughkeepsie, NY: Father Tree Press. Description:This graphic novel consists of a series of comic strips with bold texts. The characters are the Wolfriders and they are a forest-working clan of elves. When humans cause a fire to the elves’ forest, the Wolfriders must find a new home, dealing with trolls, a desert, and foreign elves along their adventure. Wendy and Richard Pini used the characters to portray women and minority issues today. Reading Level: DRA: 28 Guided Reading: L Grade Level Equivalent: 2.4 Suggested Literacy Strategy: Students can use the predicting comprehension strategy to help them think about what will happen next in the following comic strips. The action in the novel is adventurous, twisted, and exciting. Student’s predictions will help guide them throughout the text. Michelle BonnettiBook:Tiger Moth and the Dragon Kite ContsetCitation: Reynolds, A. (2007). Tiger Moth and the Dragon Kite Contest. Minnesota: Stone Arch. Reading Level: LDescription: This book is about a school of bugs who are celebrating the Chinese New Year with a dragon kite contest. The fruit flies though decide to cheat to win the contest. They use a "fighting kite" to win the contest. Their kite is actually a fruit fly that's destroying all the other kites. Tiger Moth figures out that they are cheating and with the help of Kung Pow, he catches the cheaters. Suggested Literacy Strategy: This book would be good to use with predicting. The beginning starts by telling how there is going to be a dangerous encounter with greed and evil. Here students could predict what could be so evil and greedy about a kite contest. Later we find out that the fruit flies are up to something, but we aren't sure how they are destroying all the other kites. Students should be able to come up with creative ideas about how they are destroying the other kites. This book could also be used to develop vocabulary skills. They use a lot of words that could be difficult and a glossary is included in the back for reference. Jen Levine
Book: Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi Citation: Kibuishi, Kazu. (2008). Amulet: The Stonekeeper. New York, NY: Scholastic, Graphix. Description:The Stonekeeper is about two children and their mother moving to their great-grandfather’s home after losing their father. They find that this house is dangerous and a creature kidnaps their mother. The children, Emily and Navin, eventually rescue their mother with the help of their friend Miskit, a mechanical rabbit. The book is full of pictures and is very visually appealing. Reading Level: Guided Reading Level: Q; DRA Level: 40; Ages 9-12 Suggested Literacy Strategy: Students can use the predicting comprehension strategy with this book. Since the story is an adventure book, students will have fun predicting throughout the story what is going to happen to Emily, Navin, Miskit, and their mother next. Randee Myers Book: Benny and Penny in Just Pretendby Geoffrey Hayes Citation: Hayes, G. (2008). Benny and Penny in Just Pretend. New York, NY: The Little Lit Library. Reading Level: DRA: 16; Guided Reading: I Description: This enjoyable “toon book” is about two mice named Benny and Penny. Penny is Benny’s younger sister and all she wants to do is tag along with Benny as he pretends to be a brave pirate. Benny does not like this idea and tries to push her away. When he finally succeeds, he begins to feel a little lonely. Suggested Literacy Strategy: “Drawing conclusions” is a strategy that could be used while students read books such as graphic novels. Like any novel, graphic novels have an important message that the author tries to convey throughout the course of the story. By using this strategy, students will be able to figure out what conclusions the author wants the reader to draw after reading. Liz Kalajian Book:Captain Fact Dinosaur Adventure Citation: Knife. (2005). Captain Fact Dinosaur Adventure. New York: Hyperion Book. Description: This graphic novel tells the story of superhero, Captain Fact, and his sidekick dog, Knowledge, who always seem to get into the most crazy adventures that engage readers to learn various topics through humor and bursts of facts. In this particular book, a baby dinosaur is hatched in a local museum and the two superheroes must return it back to the prehistoric age. Reading Level: DRA: 38, Guided Reading: P, Grade Level: 3-5 Suggested Literacy Strategy: Since this graphic novels leads the readers to ask the question, “Will Captain Fact and Knowledge be able to deliver the baby dinosaur to its mother in time?”, it is obvious that it creates an element of suspense. As a result, the readers can use the literacy strategy of predicting to use clues and evidence within the story to try and guess what will happen next. The fact that this book is formatted in a comic book manner will ease the use of the predicting strategy because it already segments the book into different sections with corresponding pieces of evidence and clues for the readers to use. Jasmine MartinBook: What Do Illustrators Do? Citation: Christelow, E. (1999). What Do Illustrators Do? New York: Clarion Books. Reading Level: DRA: 38, Guided Reading: P Description: The authors shows students how illustrators create pictures for books by using rough sketches to produce a finish artwork. The story line follows two illustrators as they both illustrate their own versions of Jack and The Beanstalk. The book shows students how illustrators can create different pictures for the same story depending on how they interpret the story and using their own uniqueness. Suggested Reading Strategies: Because the book talks about two different illustrators working on the same project, student can use a Venn diagram graphic organizer to display the differences and similarities between both illustrators processes and final products.
Kayleigh Shaw Book: Magic Pickle Citation: Morse, Scott. (2002). Magic Pickle. Portland, OR: Oni Press. Reading Level: DRA- 38; Guided Reading- O; Grade Level- 2.6 Description: This comic style book tells the story of Magic Pickle, or Weapon Kosher, who was created by the U.S. Army Lab. A top secret project in the 50s turned vegetables into soldiers. However, there was an explosion in the lab and "rotten" soldiers were produced along with Magic Pickle, the intended leader of the vegetable soldiers . The rotten vegetables are conspiring to take over the world as the villians in this story and it is up to Magic Pickle to stop them. In addition to his fight against the rotten soldiers, Magic Pickle develops a friendship with a little girl, Jo Jo Wigman, and we see how they meet and their friendship form and develop throughout the story. Suggested Literacy Strategy: Students can easily use predicting with this book. There is a lot going on in this book and many instances where students can stop and predict. Students can predict how situations with Jo Jo and her friends will turn out, how the relationship between Jo Jo and Magic Pickle will develop, and what will happen with Magic Pickle and the rotten vegetables.
Gianna Seidler Book Title: Stinky Citation: Davis, E. (2008). Stinky. New York, NY: Tien Wah Press. Reading Level: DRA:18; Guided Reading: K; Grade: 1.5DescriptionStinky tells the story of swamp monster, Stinky Seymour, who enjoys his life consisting of mud, his pet toad, Wartbelly, and various other swamp critters. However, a town filled with children who Stinky is not fond of, as they take baths and eat such "gross" things as cakes and apples, is nearby. Therefore, when a young boy, Nick, arrives at the swamp in order build a tree house, Stinky makes every attempt to scare him away. To his dismay, these attempts are met with failure, since Nick actually likes toads and enjoys exploring the swamps. One day, Nick loses his hat; unfortunately, Stinky finds it and throws it into the local pit. When he realizes it was Nick's lucky hat, Stinky tries to retrieve it, falling into the pit. After Nick helps him out of the hole, Stinky realizes that their unlikely friendship is inevitable.Suggested Literacy Strategy: Because it is uncertain by the illustrations and text whether Stinky will accept or reject Nick, the literacy strategy of predicting would be appropriate to teach with Stinky. The students would be required to use clues and evidence throughout the story, such as Stinky's negative attitude towards children because of their "gross" nature, in order to make an educated guess about this relationship. Making such predictions will also guide their comprehension as the story unfolds.
Erin Jackson Book: The Kickball Kids by Cari Meister Citation: Meister, C. (2009). The Kickball Kids. Mankato, MN: Stone Arch Books. Reading Level: Guided Reading: K, Grade Level: K-2 Description: In the beginning of the book there is an explanation for how to follow and read a graphic novel, which will help young readers, especially if this is their first experience with a graphic novel. In the story, Kyle’s kickball team, the Kicking Kids, enter a kickball tournament. They make it to the finals, where they are playing an older team called the Super Sharks. The game is tied in the last inning and Kyle kicks the ball and runs home. The Kicking Kids win the tournament. Several resources are provided in the back of the book, including a glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts. Suggested Literacy Strategies: This graphic novel would be good to use with predicting and summarizing. Students can use context clues and prior knowledge to make predictions about what they think will happen to The Kicking Kids in the kickball tournament. Furthermore, younger students will have an easier time learning how to summarize using a simple text like this one. Alli Clare Title:Joker by Anthony Masters Citation: Masters, A. (2006). Joker. Mankato, Minnesota: Stone Arch Books. Description: Mel is a young boy how loves to do magic tricks, just like his father, Max. Max owns a bank and is a performing magician part-time. Max and Mel have a distress signal incase any of Max’s acts go wrong; Max slips a Joker playing card out onto stage and that signals Mel to lower the curtain and get his dad out. Well, Max had to use the distress signal once more when he was kidnapped by robbers who wanted to rob his bank. He left the card under a place mat on the kitchen table. Mel saw the card and ran to his father’s rescue. Reading Level:
Grade: 3.5
DRA: 24
Guided Reading: K Suggested Literacy Strategy: Predicting. This book provides many opportunities for students to predict what they think will happen. The idea of magic has students automatically wondering what will happen. The story is a mystery and students will have many opportunities to make multiple predictions.
Lauren Masco Title:Blast to the Past Citation: Nickel, S. (2006). Blast to the past. Mankato, Minnesota: Stone Arch Books. Reading Level: Guided Reading: K Description: Two friends, David and Ben, failed a social studies math test because they were too busy playing video games. In order to solve the problem, the decide they need a time machine to go back and retake the test. Luckily, David's brother is a genius and created a time machine. They steal the remote and accidentally go back 75 million years. They have to fight off ferocious dinosaurs to go back forward in time, only to find they've skipped a few days and have a math test that day! Suggested LIteracy Strategy: This book would be great for students to predict with. The boys go on an adventure in the story, and it would be great for students to predict what they will encounter as they read along.
Margaret Molloy
Tales From Shakespeare
Presented by: Marcia Williams
Citation: Williams, M. (1998). Tales From Shakespeare. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.
Suggested Grade level: 5th and above
Summary: This is a collection of seven Shakespearean plays: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Julius Casaer, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. It presents the plays in Shakespeare’s dialogue, but is in comic strip layout.
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Shakespeare’s play would be good to use in either predictions or drawing conclusions. Things happen in the plays that are very unexpected and it would cause the students to need to play close attention to details and also to evaluate all possible solutions. Also if the students’ predictions were incorrect they would need to go back in the story and evaluate why their predictions were incorrect.
Casey Caruso Book: Geronimo Stilton: The Discovery of America by Geronimo Stilton APA Citation:
Geronimo, S. (2009). Geronimo Stilton: The discovery of America. New York, NY: NBM Publishing. Reading Level: DRA: 38; Guided Reading: O Suggested Literacy Strategies: A good strategy to teach with this graphic novel would be predicting. There are various points in this book where you could have the children stop and predict what is going to happen next in the story. As the children read, they would have to keep revising their predictions. Description: Geronimo Stilton: The Discovery of America by Geronimo Stilton is a new, full-color graphic novel. This book series, intended for young readers, was originally written in Italian and then was recently translated into English. In this adventure, Geronimo Stilton, the editor of the Rodent Gazette (the most famous paper on Mouse Island) has to face his worst enemies, The Pirate Cats! The Pirate Cats have discovered a way to travel back in time and change history. The characters in this book (and in this entire series) are likable and the illustrations are detailed and vibrant, which definitely keep the reader engaged!
Christina Marino Title: Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale – and here my Troubles Began Citation: Spiegelman, A., (1991). Maus II a survivor’s tale – and here my troubles began. New York: Pantheon Books. Reading Level: 7.4 Description: This book is more appropriate for middle school students. Maus II is a sequal to Speigelman’s first book, Maus. This is the graphic novel that tells the story of the Holocaust. The mice represent the Jews and the cats represent the Nazis. Vladek Speigelman is a character in the story who is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. Vladek tells how he survived the life in the death camps and of his relationship with his father in this moving graphic novel. Literacy Strategies: Predicting, Monitoring, and Questioning would be a good strategy to use for this graphic novel. Students can make an original prediction about what they think will happen to the characters, particularly the mice (Jews), in the death camps. As they read through the story they will have to monitor and ask themselves questions to see if their original prediction makes sense. If it doesn’t make sense, they will have to make a new prediction and continue to monitor and question themselves throughout the rest of the novel.
Cynthia Antunes Title:Invasion of the Relatives by Alexander Stadler Citation: Stadler, Alexander. (2009). Invasion of the Relatives. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. Reading Level: Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2 DRA Level: 24 Description: This graphic novel almost feels like a comic book since it primarily uses illustrations. This was the first graphic novel I read and now I can definitely see the appeal to many children. Though there is text and reading is required, the amount of text is nowhere near as much as novels, so children, especially struggling readers or those who don’t like reading, won’t feel discouraged. This book is part of series which follows a young boy who is actually in disguise and works with the “Mothership” or aliens in space. In this book, family relatives come over to celebrate Thanksgiving. Julian must endure dressing up formally, playing with the cousins, and other weird earthling traditions. Then Julian uses the information he discovers to send it back to the Mothership. Suggested Comprehension Strategy: The best strategy for this book would be the look-back and fix-it strategy. Since this book has mainly illustrations and only at times lengthy text, the look-back and fix-it strategy would be appropriate to use. Students could first look at the pictures and try to create the story on their own and then look-back and use the text to see if their understanding was accurate.
Tom Medvecky Title: Magic Pickle and the Garden of Evil Citation:Morse, Scott (2009). The Magic Pickle and the Garden of Evil .Scholastic. Description: This graphic novel is an adventure story about a group of children who decide to plant a a garden which would grow into amazing fruits and vegetables. However, their plan did not go as they thought and something magical happened. The garden sprouted the evil Romaine Gladiator lettuce head who tried to reunite the Vegetable brotherhood. Now it is up to the Magic Pickle and friends to stop him in his tracks. Suggested Literary Strategy: Graphic novels are filled with pictures and words that correspond with one another. To get students to think about the reading and to ensure they comprehend it, have them make predictions using the text and pictures. This is a good way to keep them focused on what has happened, what is happeneing and what may happen later in the text.
Megan Garlette Title: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville By Jeff Smith Citation: Smith, J. (1995). Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville. New York: Cartoon Books. Description: This graphic novel is the first in the series that introduces Bones and his cousins who are hiding in the desert after being thrown out of their town. They must battle against a variety of challenges and find a way to reunite throughout the story. There are adult themes and the humor may not always be appropriate for children. The illustrations provide great insight beyond what the simple text can, making this perfect for struggling readers. Reading Level: DRA: 40 Guided Reading: S Literacy Strategies: Making inferences would be a great strategy to use with this graphic novel. As books of these types rely on more than text, the reader is often left trying to piece together clues to figure out all aspects of the story. Students should be taught to look between the lines to what the author is telling us without actually saying.
Debra Szubrowski Title: The Secret of the Sphinx Citation: Geronimo Stilton (2007) The Secret of the Sphinx New York, NY: Papercutz Reading Level: DRA: 40, Guided Reading: S Description: In this colorful graphic novel, Geronimo Stilton travels back in time to ancient Egypt in order to stop the Pirate Cats from changing history. The Pirate Cats want to change the face of the Sphinx into the face of a cat. Although the book is funny and entertaining, it can also be used to teach children about history. It contains many facts about Egypt. Suggested Comprehension Strategy: Monitoring, Questioning and Re-predicting would be a good strategy to use with this graphic novel. It is an adventure story which contains a lot of suspense. Readers can ask questions at different parts in the story to see if they need to make a new prediction about what is going to happen to a character.
Graphic Novels
Casey Caruso and Megan GarletteCharacteristics of Graphic Novels
Why use Graphic Novels in the classroom?
How to use Graphic Novels in the classroom?
Activity Examples
Examples of Graphic Novels:
Graphic Novel Websites
Comic Books for Young Adults: A Guide for Librarianshttp://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/lml/comics/pages/index.html
No Flying, No Tights: A Web site Reviewing Graphic Novels for Teens
www.noflyingnotights.com
Recommended Graphic Novels for Public Libraries
http://my.voyager.net/~sraiteri/graphicnovels.htm
Graphic Organizers
Citations:
Class Summaries:
Kaitlin FarrellCitation: Nickel, S. (2006). The Boy Who Burped Too Much. Mankato, MN: Stone Arch
Books.
Reading Level: 3-5
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Monitoring, Questioning, and Repredicting; This book is filled twists and turns so students would easily be able to apply these strategies in order to understand the story.
Description: This is the story of Bobby Aaron, a boy who is normal in every way except one- he burps too much. Bobby enters a county spelling bee but is nervous that he will burp on stage. His friend Joseph tries many wacky ways to help Bobby get rid of his burps but none of them work. Bobby asks his grandfather for help and his grandfather gives him a lucky rubber frog. During the spelling bee, Bobby loses the frog and is thinking so hard about where it could have gone that he forgets to burp. Bobby beats his rival Courtney, wins the spelling bee, and is cured of his burping problem.
Jeanna CaliaBook: Elf Quest: Fire and Flight by Wendy and Richard Pini
Citation: Pini, W., & Pini, R. (1993). Elf Quest: Fire and Flight. Poughkeepsie, NY: Father Tree Press.
Description: This graphic novel consists of a series of comic strips with bold texts. The characters are the Wolfriders and they are a forest-working clan of elves. When humans cause a fire to the elves’ forest, the Wolfriders must find a new home, dealing with trolls, a desert, and foreign elves along their adventure. Wendy and Richard Pini used the characters to portray women and minority issues today.
Reading Level: DRA: 28 Guided Reading: L Grade Level Equivalent: 2.4
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Students can use the predicting comprehension strategy to help them think about what will happen next in the following comic strips. The action in the novel is adventurous, twisted, and exciting. Student’s predictions will help guide them throughout the text.
Michelle BonnettiBook:Tiger Moth and the Dragon Kite ContsetCitation: Reynolds, A. (2007). Tiger Moth and the Dragon Kite Contest. Minnesota: Stone Arch.
Reading Level: LDescription: This book is about a school of bugs who are celebrating the Chinese New Year with a dragon kite contest. The fruit flies though decide to cheat to win the contest. They use a "fighting kite" to win the contest. Their kite is actually a fruit fly that's destroying all the other kites. Tiger Moth figures out that they are cheating and with the help of Kung Pow, he catches the cheaters.
Suggested Literacy Strategy: This book would be good to use with predicting. The beginning starts by telling how there is going to be a dangerous encounter with greed and evil. Here students could predict what could be so evil and greedy about a kite contest. Later we find out that the fruit flies are up to something, but we aren't sure how they are destroying all the other kites. Students should be able to come up with creative ideas about how they are destroying the other kites. This book could also be used to develop vocabulary skills. They use a lot of words that could be difficult and a glossary is included in the back for reference.
Jen Levine
Book: Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
Citation: Kibuishi, Kazu. (2008). Amulet: The Stonekeeper. New York, NY: Scholastic, Graphix.
Description: The Stonekeeper is about two children and their mother moving to their great-grandfather’s home after losing their father. They find that this house is dangerous and a creature kidnaps their mother. The children, Emily and Navin, eventually rescue their mother with the help of their friend Miskit, a mechanical rabbit. The book is full of pictures and is very visually appealing.
Reading Level: Guided Reading Level: Q; DRA Level: 40; Ages 9-12
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Students can use the predicting comprehension strategy with this book. Since the story is an adventure book, students will have fun predicting throughout the story what is going to happen to Emily, Navin, Miskit, and their mother next.
Randee Myers
Book: Benny and Penny in Just Pretend by Geoffrey Hayes
Citation: Hayes, G. (2008). Benny and Penny in Just Pretend. New York, NY: The Little Lit Library.
Reading Level: DRA: 16; Guided Reading: I
Description: This enjoyable “toon book” is about two mice named Benny and Penny. Penny is Benny’s younger sister and all she wants to do is tag along with Benny as he pretends to be a brave pirate. Benny does not like this idea and tries to push her away. When he finally succeeds, he begins to feel a little lonely.
Suggested Literacy Strategy: “Drawing conclusions” is a strategy that could be used while students read books such as graphic novels. Like any novel, graphic novels have an important message that the author tries to convey throughout the course of the story. By using this strategy, students will be able to figure out what conclusions the author wants the reader to draw after reading.
Liz Kalajian
Book: Captain Fact Dinosaur Adventure
Citation: Knife. (2005). Captain Fact Dinosaur Adventure. New York: Hyperion Book.
Description: This graphic novel tells the story of superhero, Captain Fact, and his sidekick dog, Knowledge, who always seem to get into the most crazy adventures that engage readers to learn various topics through humor and bursts of facts. In this particular book, a baby dinosaur is hatched in a local museum and the two superheroes must return it back to the prehistoric age.
Reading Level: DRA: 38, Guided Reading: P, Grade Level: 3-5
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Since this graphic novels leads the readers to ask the question, “Will Captain Fact and Knowledge be able to deliver the baby dinosaur to its mother in time?”, it is obvious that it creates an element of suspense. As a result, the readers can use the literacy strategy of predicting to use clues and evidence within the story to try and guess what will happen next. The fact that this book is formatted in a comic book manner will ease the use of the predicting strategy because it already segments the book into different sections with corresponding pieces of evidence and clues for the readers to use.
Jasmine MartinBook: What Do Illustrators Do?
Citation: Christelow, E. (1999). What Do Illustrators Do? New York: Clarion Books.
Reading Level: DRA: 38, Guided Reading: P
Description: The authors shows students how illustrators create pictures for books by using rough sketches to produce a finish artwork. The story line follows two illustrators as they both illustrate their own versions of Jack and The Beanstalk. The book shows students how illustrators can create different pictures for the same story depending on how they interpret the story and using their own uniqueness.
Suggested Reading Strategies: Because the book talks about two different illustrators working on the same project, student can use a Venn diagram graphic organizer to display the differences and similarities between both illustrators processes and final products.
Kayleigh Shaw
Book: Magic Pickle
Citation: Morse, Scott. (2002). Magic Pickle. Portland, OR: Oni Press.
Reading Level: DRA- 38; Guided Reading- O; Grade Level- 2.6
Description: This comic style book tells the story of Magic Pickle, or Weapon Kosher, who was created by the U.S. Army Lab. A top secret project in the 50s turned vegetables into soldiers. However, there was an explosion in the lab and "rotten" soldiers were produced along with Magic Pickle, the intended leader of the vegetable soldiers . The rotten vegetables are conspiring to take over the world as the villians in this story and it is up to Magic Pickle to stop them. In addition to his fight against the rotten soldiers, Magic Pickle develops a friendship with a little girl, Jo Jo Wigman, and we see how they meet and their friendship form and develop throughout the story.
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Students can easily use predicting with this book. There is a lot going on in this book and many instances where students can stop and predict. Students can predict how situations with Jo Jo and her friends will turn out, how the relationship between Jo Jo and Magic Pickle will develop, and what will happen with Magic Pickle and the rotten vegetables.
Gianna Seidler
Book Title: Stinky
Citation: Davis, E. (2008). Stinky. New York, NY: Tien Wah Press.
Reading Level: DRA:18; Guided Reading: K; Grade: 1.5DescriptionStinky tells the story of swamp monster, Stinky Seymour, who enjoys his life consisting of mud, his pet toad, Wartbelly, and various other swamp critters. However, a town filled with children who Stinky is not fond of, as they take baths and eat such "gross" things as cakes and apples, is nearby. Therefore, when a young boy, Nick, arrives at the swamp in order build a tree house, Stinky makes every attempt to scare him away. To his dismay, these attempts are met with failure, since Nick actually likes toads and enjoys exploring the swamps. One day, Nick loses his hat; unfortunately, Stinky finds it and throws it into the local pit. When he realizes it was Nick's lucky hat, Stinky tries to retrieve it, falling into the pit. After Nick helps him out of the hole, Stinky realizes that their unlikely friendship is inevitable.Suggested Literacy Strategy: Because it is uncertain by the illustrations and text whether Stinky will accept or reject Nick, the literacy strategy of predicting would be appropriate to teach with Stinky. The students would be required to use clues and evidence throughout the story, such as Stinky's negative attitude towards children because of their "gross" nature, in order to make an educated guess about this relationship. Making such predictions will also guide their comprehension as the story unfolds.
Erin Jackson
Book: The Kickball Kids by Cari Meister
Citation: Meister, C. (2009). The Kickball Kids. Mankato, MN: Stone Arch Books.
Reading Level: Guided Reading: K, Grade Level: K-2
Description: In the beginning of the book there is an explanation for how to follow and read a graphic novel, which will help young readers, especially if this is their first experience with a graphic novel. In the story, Kyle’s kickball team, the Kicking Kids, enter a kickball tournament. They make it to the finals, where they are playing an older team called the Super Sharks. The game is tied in the last inning and Kyle kicks the ball and runs home. The Kicking Kids win the tournament. Several resources are provided in the back of the book, including a glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts.
Suggested Literacy Strategies: This graphic novel would be good to use with predicting and summarizing. Students can use context clues and prior knowledge to make predictions about what they think will happen to The Kicking Kids in the kickball tournament. Furthermore, younger students will have an easier time learning how to summarize using a simple text like this one.
Alli Clare
Title: Joker by Anthony Masters
Citation: Masters, A. (2006). Joker. Mankato, Minnesota: Stone Arch Books.
Description: Mel is a young boy how loves to do magic tricks, just like his father, Max. Max owns a bank and is a performing magician part-time. Max and Mel have a distress signal incase any of Max’s acts go wrong; Max slips a Joker playing card out onto stage and that signals Mel to lower the curtain and get his dad out. Well, Max had to use the distress signal once more when he was kidnapped by robbers who wanted to rob his bank. He left the card under a place mat on the kitchen table. Mel saw the card and ran to his father’s rescue.
Reading Level:
Grade: 3.5
DRA: 24
Guided Reading: K
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Predicting. This book provides many opportunities for students to predict what they think will happen. The idea of magic has students automatically wondering what will happen. The story is a mystery and students will have many opportunities to make multiple predictions.
Lauren Masco
Title: Blast to the Past
Citation: Nickel, S. (2006). Blast to the past. Mankato, Minnesota: Stone Arch Books.
Reading Level: Guided Reading: K
Description: Two friends, David and Ben, failed a social studies math test because they were too busy playing video games. In order to solve the problem, the decide they need a time machine to go back and retake the test. Luckily, David's brother is a genius and created a time machine. They steal the remote and accidentally go back 75 million years. They have to fight off ferocious dinosaurs to go back forward in time, only to find they've skipped a few days and have a math test that day!
Suggested LIteracy Strategy: This book would be great for students to predict with. The boys go on an adventure in the story, and it would be great for students to predict what they will encounter as they read along.
Margaret Molloy
Tales From Shakespeare
Presented by: Marcia Williams
Citation: Williams, M. (1998). Tales From Shakespeare. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.
Suggested Grade level: 5th and above
Summary: This is a collection of seven Shakespearean plays: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Julius Casaer, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. It presents the plays in Shakespeare’s dialogue, but is in comic strip layout.
Suggested Literacy Strategy: Shakespeare’s play would be good to use in either predictions or drawing conclusions. Things happen in the plays that are very unexpected and it would cause the students to need to play close attention to details and also to evaluate all possible solutions. Also if the students’ predictions were incorrect they would need to go back in the story and evaluate why their predictions were incorrect.
Casey Caruso
Book: Geronimo Stilton: The Discovery of America by Geronimo Stilton
APA Citation:
Geronimo, S. (2009). Geronimo Stilton: The discovery of America. New York, NY: NBM Publishing.
Reading Level: DRA: 38; Guided Reading: O
Suggested Literacy Strategies: A good strategy to teach with this graphic novel would be predicting. There are various points in this book where you could have the children stop and predict what is going to happen next in the story. As the children read, they would have to keep revising their predictions.
Description: Geronimo Stilton: The Discovery of America by Geronimo Stilton is a new, full-color graphic novel. This book series, intended for young readers, was originally written in Italian and then was recently translated into English. In this adventure, Geronimo Stilton, the editor of the Rodent Gazette (the most famous paper on Mouse Island) has to face his worst enemies, The Pirate Cats! The Pirate Cats have discovered a way to travel back in time and change history. The characters in this book (and in this entire series) are likable and the illustrations are detailed and vibrant, which definitely keep the reader engaged!
Christina Marino
Title: Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale – and here my Troubles Began
Citation: Spiegelman, A., (1991). Maus II a survivor’s tale – and here my troubles began. New York: Pantheon Books.
Reading Level: 7.4
Description: This book is more appropriate for middle school students. Maus II is a sequal to Speigelman’s first book, Maus. This is the graphic novel that tells the story of the Holocaust. The mice represent the Jews and the cats represent the Nazis. Vladek Speigelman is a character in the story who is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. Vladek tells how he survived the life in the death camps and of his relationship with his father in this moving graphic novel.
Literacy Strategies: Predicting, Monitoring, and Questioning would be a good strategy to use for this graphic novel. Students can make an original prediction about what they think will happen to the characters, particularly the mice (Jews), in the death camps. As they read through the story they will have to monitor and ask themselves questions to see if their original prediction makes sense. If it doesn’t make sense, they will have to make a new prediction and continue to monitor and question themselves throughout the rest of the novel.
Cynthia Antunes
Title: Invasion of the Relatives by Alexander Stadler
Citation: Stadler, Alexander. (2009). Invasion of the Relatives. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
Reading Level: Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2 DRA Level: 24
Description: This graphic novel almost feels like a comic book since it primarily uses illustrations. This was the first graphic novel I read and now I can definitely see the appeal to many children. Though there is text and reading is required, the amount of text is nowhere near as much as novels, so children, especially struggling readers or those who don’t like reading, won’t feel discouraged. This book is part of series which follows a young boy who is actually in disguise and works with the “Mothership” or aliens in space. In this book, family relatives come over to celebrate Thanksgiving. Julian must endure dressing up formally, playing with the cousins, and other weird earthling traditions. Then Julian uses the information he discovers to send it back to the Mothership.
Suggested Comprehension Strategy: The best strategy for this book would be the look-back and fix-it strategy. Since this book has mainly illustrations and only at times lengthy text, the look-back and fix-it strategy would be appropriate to use. Students could first look at the pictures and try to create the story on their own and then look-back and use the text to see if their understanding was accurate.
Tom Medvecky
Title: Magic Pickle and the Garden of Evil
Citation:Morse, Scott (2009). The Magic Pickle and the Garden of Evil .Scholastic.
Description: This graphic novel is an adventure story about a group of children who decide to plant a a garden which would grow into amazing fruits and vegetables. However, their plan did not go as they thought and something magical happened. The garden sprouted the evil Romaine Gladiator lettuce head who tried to reunite the Vegetable brotherhood. Now it is up to the Magic Pickle and friends to stop him in his tracks.
Suggested Literary Strategy: Graphic novels are filled with pictures and words that correspond with one another. To get students to think about the reading and to ensure they comprehend it, have them make predictions using the text and pictures. This is a good way to keep them focused on what has happened, what is happeneing and what may happen later in the text.
Megan Garlette
Title: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville By Jeff Smith
Citation: Smith, J. (1995). Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville. New York: Cartoon Books.
Description: This graphic novel is the first in the series that introduces Bones and his cousins who are hiding in the desert after being thrown out of their town. They must battle against a variety of challenges and find a way to reunite throughout the story. There are adult themes and the humor may not always be appropriate for children. The illustrations provide great insight beyond what the simple text can, making this perfect for struggling readers.
Reading Level: DRA: 40 Guided Reading: S
Literacy Strategies: Making inferences would be a great strategy to use with this graphic novel. As books of these types rely on more than text, the reader is often left trying to piece together clues to figure out all aspects of the story. Students should be taught to look between the lines to what the author is telling us without actually saying.
Debra Szubrowski
Title: The Secret of the Sphinx
Citation: Geronimo Stilton (2007) The Secret of the Sphinx New York, NY: Papercutz
Reading Level: DRA: 40, Guided Reading: S
Description: In this colorful graphic novel, Geronimo Stilton travels back in time to ancient Egypt in order to stop the Pirate Cats from changing history. The Pirate Cats want to change the face of the Sphinx into the face of a cat. Although the book is funny and entertaining, it can also be used to teach children about history. It contains many facts about Egypt.
Suggested Comprehension Strategy: Monitoring, Questioning and Re-predicting would be a good strategy to use with this graphic novel. It is an adventure story which contains a lot of suspense. Readers can ask questions at different parts in the story to see if they need to make a new prediction about what is going to happen to a character.